Education official: Students can't be forced to take PARCC

Thursday

Mar 20, 2014 at 9:25 AMMar 20, 2014 at 10:03 PM

By Scott O'ConnellDaily News Staff

FRAMINGHAM - While the state can't officially provide an opt-out option, students ultimately won't be forced to take the PARCC field test this spring, a state education official told attendees at an informational meeting this week.Bob Bickerton, senior associate commissioner at the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 does not give the state the authority to allow students to not take a standardized test, but that "common sense prevails from that point forward.""We're not going to force the kids to take the test," he said.Some parents at the meeting, held at Framingham State Tuesday night, felt Bickerton's explanation represented a change in policy by the state, which they said has been unclear on whether students would have to take the upcoming trial version of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers test. The test could end up replacing the MCAS as the state's primary standardized assessment."Nobody at the state has come out and made that clear to parents," said Mike Watson, who said his child in the Mendon-Upton school system was one of the thousands of students around the state selected to take the PARCC field test this spring.Other parents at the meeting said they believe the state should allow families to opt out. They argue that students gain nothing from taking the PARCC, which is being administered this spring solely to help state officials determine whether it should supplant the MCAS, but would still feel the stress of undergoing hours of testing.A letter from the education department's general counsel to the Worcester schools in February, however, says parents would not be able to pull their children out of testing, stating, "In short, participation in the PARCC assessment field test is mandatory."J.C. Considine, a spokesman for the education department, said on Wednesday the state is "trying to emphasize it's important everyone participate" in this spring's field tests, and reiterated the department's position that there is no opt-out. But he also said the state would likely leave it to school districts to decide how to respond to opt-out requests."Districts have experience in this" with the MCAS, he said. "They have ways of handling students who may not want to participate."Considine added that the stance Bickerton described Tuesday night was "no change in policy at all" for the state.With less than a week to go before the field tests begin, some districts have formulated an opinion on the opt-out issue, including in Mendon-Upton, where Superintendent Joseph Maruszczak has said parents can request an opt-out, but that the district isn't promoting the option."I view this in the context of honoring parental wishes - I see it almost as a curriculum type of issue," he said, akin to families requesting their student be removed from a classroom over concerns about a specific topic being discussed. "To my knowledge, this is a field test. It's not like the MCAS, where it's high stakes."As of earlier this week, Maruszczak said only one parent had requested an opt-out.Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottOConnellMW

Market Place

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA ~ 33 New York Ave., Framingham, MA 01701 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service